


Thriller (Halloween Collaboration)

by JadeJem



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Collaboration, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Halloween, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Miraculous Ladybug - Freeform, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, adrienette - Freeform, scared children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 06:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13405779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeJem/pseuds/JadeJem
Summary: "It's been five minutes," she muttered to herself, brow puckering in confusion. "Where is he?"A small, internal voice daunted her with doubt. What if Adrien didn't want to meet her? What if this whole thing was a prank? Why would he want to meet her, anyways?And at that moment, she looked up and locked eyes with the single scariest thing she had seen all night. Her lips curled back into a silent scream as absolute terror rocked her to her very core—and not in the good way.Adrien forgotten, Marinette turned and sprinted for her life. She could distinctly make out a voice calling her name, but she didn't dare turn around to see who it was.





	Thriller (Halloween Collaboration)

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this collab my good friend Mahala and I did for Halloween last year.
> 
> low-key crack but still plotted and stuff.
> 
> Enjoy. ;)

_"_ _It's close to midnight."_

Adrien huffed, slamming the door shut behind him in a disgruntled fashion.

_"And something evil's lurking in the dark."_

"I can't believe I agreed to do this," he muttered grumpily, glancing at his reflection in the mirror. "I might just have to murder Nino."

_"Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart."_

The eerie voice of the American artist, Michael Jackson, floated through the chilly Parisian air, tainted with the smell of caramel apples and other diabetic foods prone to make you obese. And tonight, Adrien was determined to eat all of the above—NOT INCLUDING MICHAEL JACKSON.

_"You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it."_

"Well,"—he sighed—"being a model and being a clown aren't too different. I mean, after all, I wear makeup for both and pretend to be happy."

"But this dumb job is better than modeling," Adrien murmured, trying to convince himself, "because my father isn't _making_ me be a clown. I'm being every child's nightmare of my own free-will."

_"You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes."_

"Take that dad," he scoffed heartily, huffing.

_"You're paralyzed."_

***   *   ***

"Alya, this place gives me the creeps," Marinette whined into Alya's ear as the two teenagers sauntered through the Halloween carnival, passing colorful tents, gamebooths, flashing lights, and obnoxious costumes.

"Shh!" the journalist shushed her scaredy-cat-of-a-best-friend. "My favorite American Halloween song is playing its intro!"

The bluenette decked out in her 'Alice in Wonderland' shabam wrinkled her nose. "American music?"

Alya shrugged. "Why not? The lyrics are cool."

_"It's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking in the dark."_

Marinette found herself nodding along to the beat, ignoring Alya's smug look as they continued their tread through the wet, unkempt grass.

_"Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart."_

"Want to take a shot, ladies?" Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin as an old man with multiple missing teeth waved a dart in their faces.

"I think we'll pass," Alya said politely, taking a step away from the aforementioned man.

The bluenette speed-walked ahead, hastily pulling Alya along with her. "See what I mean?" she asked through gritted teeth, jabbing a thumb back in the direction of the crusty old man. "Creepy."

"Oh, relax, girl," Alya chided, rolling her eyes at her best friend's paranoid antics. "It's Halloween! Creepy is this day's middle name!"

"Right," Marinette nodded absently, checking her lockscreen for any new messages. "Do you think he's actually going to want to hang out with me tonight?"

The ombré exhaled and stepped in front of Marinette, gripping her shoulders to stop her from walking any further. "He did invite you to, didn't he?" she asked expectantly, cocking an eyebrow. "He wouldn't just ditch you. That doesn't sound like something Adrien would do."

Marinette nibbled on her bottom lip obnoxiously. "I still can't believe he asked me to join him!"

"Well, believe it!" Alya exclaimed giddily, poking her best friend's arm. "Personally, I can't believe that Adrienette is going to be canon!"

Marinette's brows furrowed in confusion. "Adrie—what?" Alya began cackling when Marinette looked at her, bewildered.

"Adrienette," Alya repeated. "As in the ship. You know those tee-shirts the whole class—minus Chloé—was wearing?"

The bluenette's mouth formed an 'o' shape, and she nearly tripped over thin air as blood pooled into her cheeks. "That's what that meant?"

Alya rolled her eyes, a smile curving her lips. "You are so oblivious sometimes, girl."

Marinette huffed, clutching her arms and looking elsewhere. Her eyes fell upon a semi-familiar figure and they narrowed in speculation. "Is that Nino?"

The ombré turned to see who Marinette was looking at, and her expression morphed into a furious glare as Marinette waved him over.

"Nino!" Alya exclaimed, slamming her fist into the poor boy's arm when he came to a stop in front of them. "We agreed you'd be dressed as Mickey Mouse!"

"Ey, watch the turtle costume!" Nino complained, referring to Alya's punch. "I made it myself to match my pet turtle, Chili."

Alya exhaled exasperatedly. "Great... you love your turtle more than me. Now I just look like some douche in mouse ears, a tutu, and tights."

Nino tilted his head. "Wow, now that I think about it, Minnie Mouse is kind of a slu—"

"Language!" Marinette interrupted, motioning to the little kids surrounding the three teens with her bluebell eyes.

Nino and Alya laughed. "Yes, mom."

Suddenly, the three were interrupted by a certain blonde brat storming up to the group while shouting: "Utterly ridiculous!"

Nino sighed. "Chill, dudette."

Chloé tossed her arms up into the air dramatically. "How can I _'chill'_ when little miss trips-a-lot stole my costume!"

"What?" Marinette asked, looking down at her blue dress, white apron, tights, and black shoes. "Oh..."

"OH?!" Chloé shrieked, indignance coloring her shrill voice. "That's all you have to say?!"

Before Marinette had the chance to snap back, an identifiable _bing_ sounded from her smartphone.

**_Adrien:_ _Meet me by the ferris wheel in 5?_ **

Marinette's cheeks flushed, and an unintentional smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

**Marinette: Okay! See u there!**

"I should probably start heading over to meet you-know-who," Marinette announced to her two friends, using code to hide the fact that she was meeting up with Adrien from Chloé.

Alya winked. "Go ahead, girl! I'll keep the witch entertained."

"What witch?" Chloé queried in her usual snotty oblivity, searching the carnival with her icy-blue eyes. "Where is she?"

"Closer than you'd think," Nino responded, suppressing a laugh.

Marinette giggled to herself as she spun around and began walking in the direction of the ferris wheel.

 _'I wonder what Adrien is dressed as,'_ she wondered to herself. _'Probably something cute.'_

Marinette hummed "Thriller" as she strode past monsters, goblins, Yoda, and an array of other festive costumes.

Unable to contain her excitement, Marinette let a grin split her peach lips when the ferris wheel came into sight in the near-distance. The kaleidoscopic lights glowed a bright orange and deep purple, green and black occasionally swirling into the mix as the ferris wheel went around and around.

Marinette rounded a corner, and the base of the ferris wheel was finally in sight. She scanned the passersby, searching for Adrien's beautifully familiar warm smile, and was taken aback when she didn't see him.

 _'That's weird,'_ she noted internally. _'Maybe he's just not here yet.'_

She folded her hands and balanced on her tiptoes, hoping to find him already standing in line. When the arches of her feet began to ache, she came back down with a small _thwump_ and checked her phone.

"It's been five minutes," she muttered to herself, brow puckering in confusion. "Where is he?"

A small, internal voice daunted her with doubt. What if Adrien didn't want to meet her? What if this whole thing was a prank? Why _would_ he want to meet her, anyways?

And at that moment, she looked up and locked eyes with the single scariest thing she had seen all night. Her lips curled back into a silent scream as absolute _terror_ rocked her to her very core—and not in the good way.

Adrien forgotten, Marinette turned and sprinted _for her life_. She could distinctly make out a voice calling her name, but she didn't _dare_ turn around to see who it was.

She hurtled towards a stand selling glow-in-the-dark knick-knacks, suddenly feeling naked without a weapon in her hand. Transforming would seem too ridiculous for this (silly?) fear. As Marinette ran past, she grabbed one of the plastic blue lightsabers emitting a semi-dull glow.

_This should do it._

Deciding to be crafty, she made a sharp turn into 'The Mirror Maze of Terror' in hopes of never seeing that horrific clown again. Once she was a good ways in, she slowed down, barely out of breath. She looked up to see about 6 other Marinettes gripping plastic blue lightsabers. Her very pale and stricken face stared back at her, pleading the fear to recede once more.

Ever since she was little, she's had this god-awful fear of clowns. Smiling clowns, laughing clowns, sad clowns, confused clowns, angry clowns—you get the jist. They all scared the living crap out of her. The fact that she had recently seen the movie adaption of Stephen King's " _It"_ didn't help at all, either.

A foreign pressure tickled the base of Marinette's spine, giving her the freaky-arse impression that she was being watched. Hands shaking, the teenager whipped out her phone in an attempt to call Adrien. However, she should have known better, for—of course—there was no available service.

_You think I would have learned from all the horror movies Alya and Nino have shown me._

But this wasn't a movie. Or a TV show. Or a fanfiction. This was real life. Really frickin' real life. Hardcore legit reality. Like realer than Kylie Jenner's lips. Yeah, _that_ kind of real.

"Marinette...?" the voice called again, the tone in the man's (boy's? Perhaps a woman that smoked eight packs a day?) tone lingering EARily in her EARs.

_Dear god. Is that what I've come to? Making PUNS?_

Chat would be proud.

Marinette shook her head, attempting to rid herself of the chills running marathons up and down her arms and legs. Maybe she was hearing things? She desperately wished for Adrien's benign reassurances.

_**"Everything will be okay, Marinette."** _

_**"There's nothing to be afraid of."** _

"But there is," Marinette whispered out loud, trembling slightly as the dreadful feeling of being stared at wouldn't go away. Footsteps echoed from somewhere to her left, and Marinette's form crinkled in fear before she took off running through the maze once more.

"Where are you, Marinette?" the voice trilled, causing Marinette to jump and release a small shriek.

"EEEP!" she screamed as the horrifying, dry, cracking face-painted atrocity popped up behind her reflection.

Marinette jumped out of the way just in time to dodge the clown's hand, scream-whispering curses in horror as she continued sprinting through the mirror maze.

 _'How does that monster know my name?'_ she thought frantically, her pulse throbbing aggressively in her ears.

A horrific thought bursted into Marinette's chaotic mind:

What if this thing took Adrien?

Marinette gasped, utterly traumatized by the simple (if a bit ridiculous) idea. For a brief moment, she paused in her tread and considered taking this psycho head-on.

 _'Never mind,'_ she concluded after she glanced back and caught another glimpse of that crusty-booty face.

After all, she needed a plan. If this creep really did steal Adrien, strategy would be more effective than simply approaching him and politely asking: "May I have my future husband back?"

Tactic! That's what she needed in this madness. Of course this clown didn't have Adrien! That'd be ridiculous!

...Right?

Marinette gulped. She rounded another corner.

_How big is this thing?_

Just as the thought occurred to her, she stumbled out into an opening. Classic. Some nerds thought it'd be funny to add a cornfield to this "carnival." A UFO was the least of her worries at this point. She even hoped a random alien would appear and be a distraction, at least that way she might gain a few seconds headstart...

_Wait... is that?_

It was if her prayers had been answered!

The kid in the yoda suit ran by, a kool-aid in hand, yelling the lyrics to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Unfortunately, the clown didn't even care enough to glance at the surprisingly amusing site.

Marinette's lip quivered as she glanced behind herself. Cornfield, clown. Cornfield... clown.

_CORNFIELD IT IS!_

She found herself taking off into the accursed field, getting whacked in the face multiple times before she thought to stick her lightsaber out in front of her.

 _'Didn't think I'd be spending Halloween running from a loser in a nasty-booty suit,'_ Marinette thought bitterly.

"Speaking of suit...," she mumbled aloud, realization causing her eyes to widen. "Tikki!" The bag resting on Marinette's hip bounced as she continued running through the cornfield. She pried open the clasp and peered into the small handbag.

Tikki laid there, asleep.

"How—on earth—has she slept—through this?!" Marinette exclaimed in-between breaths, dumbstruck. She snapped the handbag closed and let it bounce against her hip once more.

"Marinette! Wait!" the clown's voice shouted, striking a chord of familiarity in Marinette that she immediately shook off.

"In your dreams, pie-face!" she shrieked back, sounding partially confident and partially terrified. "What I wouldn't give to transform."

Once again, Marinette found herself stumbling into a clearing—filled with people, games, and rides.

"Oh thank god," Marinette gasped, resting her hands on her knees and turning around. The corn stalks a few feet away rustled, and Marinette groaned before taking off once more.

She could feel the eyes of random passersby follow her curiously, but she ignored them. A strangely shaped building took form up ahead of her, and she made a break for it. Marinette barely had time to glance at the 'Fun House' sign flashing brilliantly above the dark entrance before she was barreling through.

Carnival music tainted by spooky witch laughter and other Halloween-related noises filled Marinette's unwilling ears, making her feel slightly sick to her stomach. The stretchy mirrors lining the long hallway contorted her reflection, and her head began to spin.

She followed the turns, suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that not another soul was in the area except for her. Something to her right creaked, and she whimpered before thundering down the rest of the hallway.

Was this really happening? Was Ladybug, defender of Paris, freaking running from some sketchy rodeo clown that wouldn't stop following her?

 _'Yes,'_ she realized with a start, stopping mid-step, _'I am.'_

The blue lightsaber illuminated the otherwise dark hall, and she took a final deep breath before turning around. The footsteps on the other side of the wall stopped. Marinette held her breath.

"Marinette?" the clown called, sounding... tentative? "Hello?"

Marinette said nothing.

The footsteps started again, this time faster, and Marinette shrieked when the clown rounded the corner. He stopped abruptly, throwing his hands up in surrender when she pointed her weapon at his throat.

"Whoa!" he said, taking a step back. "Chill out!"

"Chill out? Chill out?!" Marinette screamed indignantly, momentarily letting the lightsaber rest at her side. "How the hell am I supposed to chill out?! You have been chasing me all evening when I supposed to meet up with Adrien! Not... that you know who that is, b-but you get my point!"

The clown's face contorted into confusion before a dawning look took over his expression. "Marinette," he laughed, face-palming and wiping off some of the paint, "I _am_ Adrien!"

Marinette blinked.

_Huh?_

"No!" Marinette shouted, holding the glowing blue lightsaber out in front of her, the tip an inch away from the clown's neck. Of course the weapon wasn't actually fatal, but she still figured with the right velocity and aim, it could still dole out one heck of a concussion. "You're lying! I would recognize Adrien anywhere!"

"I'm not lying!" he insisted, lifting his hands back into the 'I surrender' motion. "I really AM Adrien!"

Marinette was furious anybody—any _clown_ —dared to impersonate the one and only Adrien Agreste, the golden boy of her heart. "Prove it!" she yelled, pressing the lightsaber against the skin of his throat. "Prove. It."

"The black umbrella!"

Those three words sent an electric shock through Marinette's body, and she ever-so-slightly loosened her grip on the toy weapon. "What did you just say?" she asked slowly, eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.

The dressed-up figure sighed, carefully lifting the rainbow wig off of his head, revealing familiar (if a bit tousled) golden locks before tossing the cursed thing to the side. "It was raining outside after school, and it was just you and I. You still hated me back then."

Marinette tilted her head, curiosity overcoming her doubt, though she was sure that it was indeed Adrien. "Continue," she urged quietly.

"I remember feeling so bad," he recalled, guilt melting into his as voice as he ran his fingers through the wig in his hands. "I wanted you to know that I wasn't a bad kid. I didn't mean to put that gum on your seat. I was really just trying to clean it off."

Marinette readjusted the grip on the handle, scoffing, "Someone could have told you about that!" But she knew they hadn't.

The clown shook his head fiercely. "If I'm not Adrien, then how would I know that I thought you were insanely cute when I first saw you? That I wanted to be your friend... and possibly even more?"

Marinette's jaw dropped, the lightsaber following suit not moments later. It made a distinct _thump_ as it hit the fun house's floor. She quickly recovered, picking the weapon of choice back up as a bright blush stained her cheeks. "Wh-what?" she stuttered.

"Well," the psycho clown (or sweet boy) said, snickering, "if you would stop pointing that 'elegant weapon for a more civilized age' at me, it would be much easier for me to confess my feelings for you."

Just as Marinette began to lower the epic toy, she remembered how in movies the bad guys always appealed to the main character's feelings... who they love. "If you're Adrien, then tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone else."

Her heart was pounding in anticipation, and little did she know, his was too. However, his pulse was not aggressively speeding for the same reasons—no, his was running a marathon because of what he was about to do... what he was about to confess.

Adrien despised the way Marinette was looking up at him, disgusted, scared... hateful. He desperately wanted her sapphire eyes to gleam with kindness, affection, _love_. Almost suddenly, he realized how privileged he was to see, talk to, laugh with, smile at—to _know_ Marinette Dupain-Cheng—and be a part of her life.

No matter what happened with Ladybug, no matter how many times she denied, rejected and accidentally humiliated him, he could always rely on Marinette to brighten his state of mind and improve his mood.

He hated to be hated by her. He loved to be loved by her. That simple conclusion was compelling enough for Adrien.

"I'm Chat Noir."

Marinette's response, however, was NOT what Adrien expected.

"You're lying!" she exclaimed, her eyebrows furrowing in fury.

Offended and surprised, disguised Adrien recoiled. "What? No I'm not!"

Marinette stomped her foot, taking a step closer to him again to press the plastic toy against his chest, making Adrien think of a raging goddess. "I happen to know Chat on a very personal level!"

Adrien crinkled his button nose, heat rising to his head. "What? No you don't!"

"I do, too!" Marinette shot back.

Adrien crossed his arms stubbornly. "Then prove it."

"Prove it?" she scoffed. "Fine! Where should I begin? Constant winking, constant flirting, non-stop TERRIBLE cat puns!"

Adrien puckered his features absentmindedly. "Those puns are pawsome."

"They aren't all just about cats, either. I mean, calling me 'Buggaboo'? Really? How creati—," Marinette paused mid-word, her eyes widening in horror. "I mean, um, calling Ladybug 'Buggaboo.'"

Adrien's jaw dropped open into a wide, goofy, excited, amazed and astonished grin all rolled into one.

Marinette giggled nervously. "Pshh... silly me! You know, always being so clumsy with my words! Can... barely speak... french..."

But Adrien didn't buy it. The truth was so obvious, he wanted to smack himself over the head with the blue lightsaber his partner in justice was grasping on to for her life. Slowly, his lips closed tightly together, and then the right corner lifted up into a signature smirk. Chat's signature smirk.

As soon as Marinette saw it, she knew.

This clown was not only Adrien, not only her crush for the past couple of years, but also her less than punny super-partner. She just did NOT see that coming.

"I..." She blinked, too stunned to even spit out the words practically flooding out of her ears, like water from a broken dam. "Wha—"

"I can see that you're confused," Adrien reasoned, holding his hands out in front of her in, what, some weird attempt to calm her? How on the earth was Marinette supposed to be calm about this?! Two insanely important people in her life had just molded together like it was nothing! And Marinette was just supposed to be mentally okay?

"Understatement of the century," she said breathlessly, brushing wisps of hair away from her eyes. Adrien chuckled at this, his eyes sparking in amusement. "How... did I not notice?"

Adrien shrugged, a happy-go-lucky grin splitting his lips. "No idea, but it's not like I noticed either." He took a step towards her, and Marinette's heart jumped into her throat, blocking all the words she so desperately wanted to say like _how can this work out so perfectly?_ Was this even real? Was she dreaming? Man, if she was, she would be disappointed when she woke up.

She'd always convinced herself that loving Chat was too weird—too impossible because of her feelings for Adrien and her job as one of Paris' savior. 'Maybe if there was no Adrien,' she had mused to herself once.

But what if she could have both?

A lens jumped in front of her eyes, and the blurred lines between Chat and Adrien became clear until they were no longer two people, but one. Feelings she had never allowed herself to feel towards the other half of the super-duo pounded against her chest, wishing to escape and shower the boy standing in front of her with all this built-up affection.

The desire for his attention and love coursed through her veins, leaving her a mess before him. Exactly how much had she been holding herself back?

She didn't know or care.

Almost simultaneously, the two teetered forward, Marinette on her toes, and Adrien at the waist. They met in the middle for a quick peck, and Marinette jumped back, a blush springing to her cheeks as she slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Was that real?" she blurted against her own will, turning a shade darker in embarrassment.

Adrien's fingers brushed his lips, and a faint pink coated his cheeks. "I really hope so."

Once again, they both slowly inched closer and closer, drawn to one another in a way that neither had ever experienced or wanted to experience with someone else. Marinette's hands rested on his chest, and their lips met in another small, experimental peck. They parted once more, and she looked up into his eyes, a fire burning in her heart. His meadow-green orbs, illuminated by the fun house lights, blazed, something that made Marinette's knees quiver swimming in their depths.

Like two thundering waves, they crashed together, every single emotion they'd ever felt for one another melding and becoming one raging, overpowering feeling.

Unspoken words and murmurs passed between them, speech not needed to understand the simple truth of how strong their connection was. Marinette became light-headed and would have kept going if Adrien hadn't have held her back.

"We need to breathe," he chuckled breathlessly, his face aglow as he brushed his nose against hers, unable to wipe the smile off of his face.

"What we need"—Marinette giggled and caressed his cheekbone with her thumb—"is to get you out of this god-awful costume."

Adrien laughed full-heartedly, picking up the short girl and twirling her around. He couldn't remember ever being this happy. Her shrieks turned into content laughter as Adrien peppered her face with kisses, finishing with her mouth. "I have always wanted to do that."

Marinette slapped his shoulder lightly, rolling her eyes. "That's what they all say."

Adrien suddenly straightened, eyes narrowing. "Who else, exactly, has said and done that to you?"

With a mysterious 'shh' and a giggle, Marinette slipped out of Adrien's embrace smoothly and ran around the corner.

"Aw, c'mon!" Adrien called after her, a grin splitting his lips. "I thought you were done running!"

"Can't help it if you're scary!" Marinette's voice echoed, followed by a stream of giggles that faded as she got farther away.

Wig forgotten, Adrien took off after her, shouting.

Alya stepped around the corner, pulling Nino by the arm. She smirked and held out her hand. "Put 'em here."

Nino grunted and placed the 5 euros in Alya's patient palm. "I didn't think she'd be able to look past her fear of clowns."

Alya beamed. "Looks like I know her best."

"Should we be worried about the fact that they're both superheroes?"

"...nah."

**Author's Note:**

> Xoxo, J and H.


End file.
